brown



(No Model.)

B L BROWN METHOD 0]? MANUFACTURING INDEXES. No. 529,477.

Patented Nov. 20, 1894.

mmm mmm UNITED STATES PATENT Enron.

REUBEN L. BROWN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO BROIVN & BESLY, INCORPORATED, OF SAME PLACE.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING INDEXES.-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,477, dated November 20, 1 894.

Application filed September 22,- 1890. Serial No. 365,778- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, REUBEN L. BROWN, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful 5 Improvements in Methods of Manufacturing Indexes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of refer-.

once marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improved method of manufacturing indexes of that kind which are composed of a plurality of leaves or pages having the several letters of the alphabet or other desired characters printed upon the margins of said leaves or pages.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a view of one of the leaves or pages with the entire alphabet printed upon one of its mar- 2 5 gins. Fig. 2 is a similar View of one of the pages or leaves having a portion of its margin cut away. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the series of leaves or pages arranged in proper order to form a complete index.

In said drawings a indicates the leaf or page; I), the free or outer margin thereof upon which the alphabet or set of characters used in the index is printed.

0 indicates a shoulder formed by cutting 3 5 away a portion of said margin 19 so as to make the index sheet below said shoulder narrower than the upper part thereof.

Indexes as ordinarily manufactured are made by pasting upon the edge of each leaf or page a small piece of paper or other suitable material, upon which the desired letter has been printed. Considerable care must be exercised in attaching these pieces to the margins of the several leaves in order to get 4 5 them in their proper relative positions, so

that the letters or characters will all be visible when all the sheets are arranged together. Indexes have been also made by first cutting the margins of the leaves and then printing each leaf separately, but with this method much time is consumed in printing the letters or characters singly.

In manufacturing indexes according to my improved method I first print the entire alphabet or set of characters composing the index, upon the margin of each leaf or page a as shown in Fig. 1. I next remove a portion of the margin of each sheet below the character or letter belonging to the sheet, so as to leave such character adjacent to the shoulder 12 of the sheet. As for instance in beginning with the top or upper sheet, having upon it the first letter or character of the series, as for instance the letter A, all of the printed margin of the first page below the letter A is removed, leaving said letter adjacent to the shoulder B. In the next page or leaf the margin below the letter Bis removed, leaving the letters A and B, with the letter B adjacent to the shoulder b. In the next 7.0 page the letters A, B and C will be left with the letter C nearest the shoulder 17, and in like manner each successive page will be cut so as to leave an additional letter until the last sheet of the series is reached, which lat- 7 5 ter sheet is left intact. I then arrange the several sheets cut or formed in the manner described, in their proper order, the whole sheet, or the last one of the series, being placed at the bottom of the pile and the intermediate sheets piled one upon another with each successive leaf placed over a leaf having one more letter or character upon its margin, until the top sheet is reached, or the one having only a single letter or character. 8 5 When all the leaves or sheets are properly arranged they'may be suitably joined at their margins opposite or remote from the printed margins, bound into a book, placed in a filing receptacle, or otherwise used as desired.

In manufacturing indexes as herein described the sheets may be very rapidly run through an ordinary printing press and all the letters or characters thus quickly printed upon the margin of each sheet by one hand- 9 5 ling only of the sheets. The sheets are then divided into as many piles as there are let ters or characters required to form the index, and each pile then cut so as to remove a portion of the printed margin and leave a por- Ioo tion of said margin withone or more letters or characters thereon in the manner hereinbefore set forth. The index is then made up by taking a single leaf from each one of said piles in succession and arranging them in order as before described. It is evident therefore that the work of making the indexes is very much simplified and that they may be much more rapidly and accurately made than in prior methods in which small pieces with the letters printed thereon were pasted to the edges, or each sheet cut to form a shoulder thereon, and a letter or character printed separately upon its margin near said shoulder.

Having described my invention, what I claim is The herein described method of manufacturing indexes, consisting of the following steps," to wit: first, printing the entire series of letters or characters to be used upon the margin of each leaf or page of the index, second, removing a portion of said printed margin so as to leave thereon one or more of said letters or characters, and third, arranging said printed and cut leaves or pages in proper order to form the index, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

REUBEN L; BROWN. lVitnesses:

O. CLARENCE POOLE, GEORGE W. HIGGINS, Jr. 

